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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Waters v. Min Ltd. case brief

Waters v. Min Ltd. case brief summary
587 N.E.2d 231 (Mass. 1992)

CASE SYNOPSIS

Defendant buyers challenged an order of
a Superior Court (Massachusetts), which rescinded their contract to
purchase an annuity from plaintiff seller on the grounds of
unconscionability. The superior court also dismissed defendants'
counterclaim for specific performance.

CASE FACTSPlaintiff seller owned an annuity with
a cash value of $ 189,000 and long-term value of $ 694,000. Her
boyfriend introduced her to drugs, exhausted her credit card
resources, and used his influence with her to convince her to sell
the annuity to defendants, to whom he owed money, for $ 50,000.
Plaintiff filed an action to rescind the contract. Defendants
counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment and specific performance.
The superior court rescinded the contract on grounds of
unconscionability.

DISCUSSION

On appeal, the court affirmed.

Applying both the
principles of common law and their incorporation into the Uniform
Commercial Code, the court agreed that the contract was
unconscionable.

The court remarked that the gross disparity between
the value given in exchange for the $50,000 payment was reason alone
to rescind the contract for unconscionability.

The agreement was not
one that any person in her right mind would have made on the one hand
and that no honest and fair person would have accepted on the other
hand.

Combining these features with the undue influence of
defendants' agent, the boyfriend, and other irregularities of the
contract rendered it unenforceable.

CONCLUSION
The court affirmed the superior court's order that rescinded the
contract in which defendant buyers agreed to purchase plaintiff
seller's annuity, with a cash value of $ 189,000 and a long-term
value of $ 694,000, for $ 50,000. The court agreed that the irregular
circumstances surrounding the sale and the amount of the
consideration made the sale unconscionable under both common law
principles and the Uniform Commercial Code.Suggested law school study materials
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